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BREAKING NEWS: King of the Ring Tournament 2018
'''King of the Ring Tournament''' '''Following the reveal of the first round brackets for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, Triple H has announced the return of the illustratious King of the Ring Tournament. The 24th edition of the event will take place in Detroit, Michigan. The tournament will run from the 26th of July till the 29th of July 2018.''' '''The 2018 edition of the Tournament will be the first ever to feature 32 Superstars and all four brands - RAW, SmackDown, NXT and ECW. Eight Superstars from each brand will square up on the First Round. The winner of each match will advance until only one Superstar remains. The winner of the Tournament will receive a title shot of their choosing. Who will reign supreme and be crowned King? Find out on the 29th of July 2018. "The Throne is Waiting For You."''' '''History''' '''The original King of the Ring tournament was held in 1985. Don Muraco won the tournament last, defeating The Iron Sheik.''' '''In 1986, the second King of the Ring winner, Harley Race, parlayed his victory into an arrogant King of Wrestling gimmick, featuring a regal cape and crown. This gimmick led to several notable feuds for Race with Junkyard Dog, Hulk Hogan, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, and others, even after new winners had been crowned in the annual tournament. In 1988, Race suffered an abdominal injury and during his absence his manager Bobby "the Brain" Heenan awarded the crown to Haku in July, rechristening him King Haku, even though Randy Savage had won the tournament by that point and Ted DiBiase would also win the tournament during this storyline. Race eventually returned from his injury and briefly feuded with King Haku, but was unable to regain the crown at the 1989 Royal Rumble. King Haku then lost the crown to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in May 1989. "King Hacksaw" then lost it on August 30, 1989 to "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who rebranded himself "Macho King". Savage abandoned the "Macho King" gimmick upon his loss of a "Career ending match" to Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VII in 1991, following which only wrestlers who had won the most recent tournament, as well Jerry Lawler (who had used a King Of Wrestling image regionally in the Memphis area since the early 1970s) would use the gimmick.''' '''Randy Savage ("Macho King"), Owen Hart ("King of Harts"), Mabel ("King Mabel" ), Kurt Angle ("King Kurt"), Edge ("King Edge the Awesome"), Booker T ("King Booker"), and Lars Alexandersson (King Lars) are all wrestlers that also took on "King" nicknames after winning King of the Ring tournaments, with varying amounts of indulgence in the regal gimmick. William Regal won the tournament while serving as General Manager of Raw[10] and began displaying King Lear signs of tyranny and delusion. Triple H alluded to his King of the Ring victory as part of his integrated gimmick starting 2006 as the "King of Kings". In addition to the King's crown, various female wrestlers were portrayed as Queen while they were aligned with Kings, including "Queen of the Ring" Fabulous Moolah (aligned with King Harley Race at Wrestlemania III), Sensational Queen Sherri (manager of "Macho King" Randy Savage), and Queen Sharmell (manager of King Booker). Mo, Mabel's tag team partner in Men on a Mission, was "knighted" as Sir Mo by his partner after the latter's 1995 victory.'''